Don’t tell them. It’s Father’s Day.I put it out to the universe that I wanted something new and INTERESTING to post today and this is what I came across within about ten seconds. This is one of Barbra Streisand’s recommended “must-watch” Ted talks, and if it’s good enough for Babs, it’s good enough for me.

Hanna Rosin is a gutsy journo in the USA extensively researching why this post-industrial digital age is great news for women but not so good for men. Now I am totally absorbed in my women’s studies course at Uni, this sort of research is of immense interest to me personally but I think you will find it very thought provoking too. The statistics are warming for those of us who have daughters and alarming for those of us who have sons – I have both, so am conflicted.

“The global economy is becoming a place where women are more successful than men, and these economic changes are starting to rapidly affect our culture — what our romantic comedies look like, what our marriages look like, what our dating lives look like, and our new set of superheroes.” She draws some interesting insights e.g. how the Marlboro Man, once epitomising idealised masculinity (before he died of lung cancer) has been replaced with the shallow and goofy Old Spice Guy whom you can’t take seriously.

“What the economy requires now is a whole different set of skills: You need intelligence, you need an ability to sit still and focus, to communicate openly to be able to listen to people and to operate in a workplace that is much more fluid than it used to be. Those are things that women do extremely well.” (I think these are skills are not just specific to women. But the point is, I think, about a shift in what is needed in organizations).

“In my mother’s day, she didn’t go to college. Not a lot of women did. Now for every two men who get a college degree, three women will do the same.” (Today we took our daughter to the open day at Auckland University. It’s hard to believe that it was once such a bias toward guys at our tertiary institutions)

Anyway, take a look, and maybe this is not the day to discuss the findings with Dad.